


Dangerous Assumption

by CustosInMare



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Moral Lessons, Witch Curses, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 11:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8141678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CustosInMare/pseuds/CustosInMare
Summary: Sam is amused when Dean is yet again turned into an animal. Why can’t any of the witches they meet put more thought into their curses?I do not own Supernatural or the characters depicted within.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam stifled his coo of ‘aww’ looking at his brother curled in an unconscious heap by the passenger door of the Impala. The little tiger cub looked to be only a month old or so and was still incredibly fluffy and soft. It still amazed Sam that his brother could ever be so adorable, even though numerous witches (it seemed like) had already proved it. Dean had been a puppy, a kitten, a squirrel, a hamster, and even a frog at various times and it always proved to be an experience full of heart-mushing moments of utter cuteness. Not that Dean agreed-- he always found such times to be annoying and plain embarrassing, which is why Sam made sure to remember every moment so he could better tease his brother. The pictures and videos helped too.

The cub snuffled into the jacket it was wrapped in, and Sam pulled himself into the here and now. He got them both out of the car, being careful not to wake the napping cub, and inside Bobby’s. Bobby was not home, but after a brief phone call, Sam was reminded that owning a home came with some domestic responsibilities like grocery shopping. So he carefully put his still snoozing brother on his bed upstairs and made himself at home watching tv, and raiding the food left in Bobby’s fridge.

He must have fallen asleep watching Animal Planet (what?! They might’ve been talking about tigers) because he found himself jerking awake to Bobby yelling, “Ya idjits here?”

“Yeah,” Sam cleared his sleep clogged throat, “in here, Bobby.”

Bobby appeared in the door way and glanced around the room, “Where’s yer brother?”

Sam opened his mouth to answer and then froze as he realized he had no idea how long he had left his brother alone upstairs—with the door shut, because he knew his stubborn brother would try to go down stairs without help, tiny body or no tiny body.

He looked at his watch and bolted for the stairs as he realized it had been two hours. Damn. Dean was going to kill him—when he had hands again that is, but what was new about that.

Bobby was behind him as he cautiously opened the door to the guest room and peeked inside. When Sam saw the state of the room he thought perhaps it would be Bobby who killed him instead. The floor had been clawed in various places, but mostly in front of the door. The bed had been soiled, one of the blankets pulled half off and the only hint of Dean they saw was an orange and black tail disappearing under the bed.

“Dean?! What the hell?” Sam exclaimed. Even at his most annoyed with the other transformations he had never deliberately destroyed something nor did his business in anything less than a modest, house-trained manner. Yes, he had been locked in here without access to any appropriate place to go, but it was only two hours and he didn’t have to do his business on Sam’s bed!

“Dean! Get out here!” Sam continued irately, “You’re not hiding from this! MY bed? Really?!”

Sam stomped over to the bed Dean had disappeared under and tapped his foot in a manner congruent with his mood. Dean was silent and did not obey the summons. Sam huffed and kneeled down to peer under the bed. His older brother was an indistinct cub-shape huddled against the wall under the head board. 

Sam sighed, perhaps Dean was a bit intimidated by their new size difference, but that shouldn’t be because it wasn’t even as pronounced as when Dean had been a frog and he hadn’t shown any fear of getting close to Sam then. Of course, frog-Dean hadn’t pooped on his brother’s bed deliberately. 

Sam crawled toward the top of the bed and reached one long arm out to drag his stubborn brother out if that’s what it came to. He didn’t even hear the small growls until he had to jerk his bleeding hand away from danger.

“Ow! Dean!” Sam hissed as he cradled his bitten hand in its partner to inspect it. “Dean! Who knows what germs your mouth is carrying right now!”

Sam was just about to shove the bed aside and pounce on his brother’s scruff to show him how done he was with messing around when Bobby stepped away from the door and grabbed him.

“Sam. Calm down a minute.” Bobby intoned, “you sure that’s Dean, right?”

Sam blinked in surprise, “Of course, Bobby! I saw the whole thing happen. The witch threw her spell at him, he vanished into his clothes, and afterward he was a cub curled up inside the flannel with his amulet around his neck. It’s him!”

“Well, then maybe the curse changed more than his body this time,” Bobby theorized, “because that critter is acting more like a wild animal than Dean Winchester.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open in startled guilt, “You think he thinks he is an animal?” 

Bobby shrugged, “with how he’s acting? It wouldn’t surprise me one bit.”

“Crap,” Sam muttered, “I probably just scared him to death.”

After hours of fruitlessly trying to lure Dean out from under the bed with lunch meat, they went with Sam’s impulsive plan to move the bed and then grab him; but this time, they went about it as easy as they could. Dean was still terrified and tried to bolt, so Sam was forced to lunge and grab him by the scruff. He felt horrible when Dean mewled the most pitiful sounds of distress he had ever heard. 

They soon realized that Dean was too young to eat meat of any kind when Sam tried to appease his brother’s growling stomach (and his own guilt). Bobby went to get supplies from an animal sanctuary, and Sam tried to bond with his brother. It did not go well. Dean would bite or scratch whenever he could manage it, and he had some fairly effective natural weapons against tender human skin. Sam resorted to wrapping him up to his neck in a thick blanket held closed at his scruff, so Sam could keep the teeth away too. Unfortunately, he could find no defense against Dean’s heartbroken mewls and whimpers.

When Bobby returned with appropriately sized bottles and formula for baby tigers (oh, the things you could find), Sam had never been more relieved. Even more so when Dean took the bottle fairly quickly and then fell asleep—on Sam’s lap. This, this was the cute picture he had expected when he peeked into his brother’s collapsed clothes that morning. 

After that, Dean seemed to except Sam and Bobby’s handling. It wasn’t long before Sam had another full folder on his laptop of cute pictures and videos of Dean-the-cub being absolutely adorable. It was even sooner that Dean-the-cub started not only tolerating them, but seeking cuddles and comfort. Sam had to add a second folder. 

Sam, of course missed his brother. There was no teasing, no discussion of cases, no banter. Sam missed it—most of it; and it made the homesickness slightly worse that Dean couldn’t even communicate with nods or head-shakes. Sam comforted himself with thoughts of how much he could tease and harass his brother with stories (and pictures and videos) of his brother’s absolute preciousness when Dean returned to being himself. The curse had a month long deadline. Sam hadn’t managed to hear all of the witch’s incantation, but the end was clear, ‘so shall it be until this next moon.’ Meaning that the curse would end when the same phase of the moon it was uttered under came around again. 29.5 days later. 

So after enjoying and enduring 28 days of this, Sam was excited (and a little sad) that his brother would soon be human again. He prepared by buying his brother’s favorite foods and alcohol to celebrate with. He had learned it was a good idea to appease his brother just after one of these transformations. The heckling would be introduced later—a little later.

Sadly, it never occurred to Sam that the end of the curse would have a very different outcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam and Bobby were both sitting in the den, intently watching a playful tiger cub chew up an old shoe. Of course, this wasn’t an ordinary tiger cub. This cub was under a curse. One that would end at any time now, and then it would turn back into its true self: Dean Winchester, human male.

Sam fidgeted, the anticipation was starting to get to him. The moon was in the correct phase and Dean should be turning back any time now; but already six hours had passed since moon rise and Dean showed no indication that he was going to do anything more that day than eat, sleep, and poop. Sam snorted, not that that was much different to human Dean’s behaviors.

Then, it happened. Dean was suddenly standing there, as human and as naked as the day he was born. Sam and Bobby had expected nothing less. Sam was already reaching for a blanket to cover his big brother’s modesty when the unexpected aspects of Dean’s appearance registered.

Sam and Bobby both gasped in shock. Always before, Dean had come back to human exactly as he had left it—minus the clothes. This time, such was not the case.

“Dean?” Sam breathed in horror, “What happened?”

Dean had, on first appearing, jumped back in startled fright, but had begun to calm himself—recognizing where he was—when Sam’s question came. Dean took in Sam’s stupefied dismay and did not answer. He simply walked over and snatched the forgotten blanket out of his brother’s lax fingers to wrap around his dignity.

“Dean?” Bobby tried this time, more sharply, “What. Happened?”

Dean glared at them both, “Well, what the hell do you think happened?! Take away a mother’s cub and dump a human there instead?! She flipped out! That’s what happened!”

“Wait, what?!” Sam leaped to his feet and took in his brother’s appearance more thoroughly. 

Dean had covered himself from the waist down, but most of the damage was still clearly visible. It sickened Sam: under a layer of accumulated dirt his brother’s torso was lined with thick pink scars curving down his shoulder, chest, and both his hips, looking like they wrapped around to his back. His bearded face had been clawed too. His eye barely escaping from the looks of it, while his left ear had not been so lucky; the lower half of it was missing completely. His right forearm still sported a ravaged bite wound that looked like it was infected, with yellowish, green pus oozing from it.

Sam almost puked. Not to mention, he was close to tearing up. How had just a simple curse that they didn’t even have to break, but merely wait out ended like this? Dean looked like he had been mauled—by a large cat. Sam froze. What had Dean said? ‘take away the cub and put a human there: the mom flips out? Oh, no.

Sam ran for the trash can and did puke. And cry. That cute little cub he had spent the last month feeding and cuddling with… it was an actual tiger cub. One who had a mother. It wasn’t his brother at all. His brother had been missing for the last month, and Sam hadn’t even known. How had he not known? His guilt ate at him.

A warm hand settled gently on his back. Sam stiffened. It could only be Dean. He didn’t deserve his brother’s comfort.

“Sam,” Dean said quietly, not like his justified anger from before, “Did you hear the witch’s incantation?”

Sam mutely shook his head, “No,” he choked, “just the last sentence, that it would last a month. I-I thought it was like the other times. You know? The frog, and squirrel…”

Sam trailed off as he couldn’t let himself continue to make excuses. Dean sighed with some emotion Sam couldn’t fathom, and got into Sam’s eye line.

“Sam,” Dean spoke solemnly, “it wasn’t your fault. The witch intended exactly this to happen, I expect.”

“How?”

Dean gave a self-deprecating smile, “I taunted her. Said she could try to throw her best curse, but it wouldn’t impress me. I may have mentioned the other animal curses.”

“So she…” Sam waited for Dean to finish the thought and confirm his guess of what happened.

“She threw a ‘trading places’ curse at me. I found myself curled up next to a mama tiger—“ Dean gave a slight chuckle, “we were both pretty surprised. Then she lay into me, and—the rest is history.”

Dean considered for a moment more before going on, “Obviously, this witch did have more imagination than the others, but I think her main goal was this right here: you not realizing and then blaming yourself. Sammy, you don’t have to. It wasn’t your fault, you couldn’t have known. If our places had been reversed, I doubt I would have thought it was something different than the other times.”

Sam shook his head, “No. You’re too good a hunter. I should have scryed the curse; made sure of what it was. Dean, I swear, I’ll never make that mistake again.”

“I believe you,” Dean smiled, “so, we’ve both learned something valuable: no reason to angst about it.”

Dean grunted as he got off the floor. “Now, I need a shower, bitch.”

Sam allowed himself to laugh, glad beyond reason that his brother was back, and warmly clasped the hand offered him to help lever himself off the floor.

**Author's Note:**

> What do y'all think?  
> I wanted to remind Sam to take curses seriously. I thought some of the other fanfics that were pure fluff, may have given the Winchesters some false impressions. ;)  
> I own not the characters nor the universe they live in. That privilege goes to Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.


End file.
